The team from the Ithaca gorges remains atop the PairWise rankings this week after beating R.P.I., 3-0, Saturday night to complete the weekend sweep. But there’s also a familiar contender lurking just behind the Big Red in the system that best mirrors the N.C.A.A. tournament selection criteria: Boston University. The Terriers followed up a 4-1 Friday road rout of Merrimack with a 5-2 shellacking of archrival Boston College.
B.U. scored five straight goals after falling behind 1-0 in the first period. The Terriers are now four points behind first-place Northeastern in the Hockey East standings and have lost just once since Thanksgiving. “We’ve brought the attitude that we’re not going to stop, that you’re going to have to play B.U. hockey and raise the tempo,” Terriers captain Matt Gilroy told the Boston Herald.

While B.U. is on the up, B.C. has slipped in recent weeks. The Eagles suffered a tough 4-3 loss to UMass-Lowell on Friday night and are winless in their last six games. B.C. coach Jerry York isn’t trying to gloss over the slide. “We’re in a funk, there’s no question, these last three or four weeks,” York told uscho.com.

Cornell played a terrific game Saturday evening in Troy. I remember Ned Harkness as their coach and Ken Dryden as a goalkeeper in my youth. Although I would rather the game had ended differently (RPI ’68); I wish Cornell’s Big Red the best and hope that they will be able to win the Frozen Four for the ECAC.

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